The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, together with Public Citizen and UFCW Locals 663, 440 and 2 filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota seeking to stop the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new swine slaughter modernization rule. The proposed rules, which were announced in September, eliminates the line speed limits in pork slaughter plants and turns inspection of our food over to the companies that produce it, the UFCW said in a release.

“Thousands of our members work hard every day in America’s pork plants to help families across the country put food on the table. Increasing pork plant line speeds is not only a reckless giveaway to giant corporations, it will put thousands of workers in harm’s way,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “This new rule would also dramatically weaken critical protections that Americans depend on to be able to select safe, healthy food to feed their families every day. The safety of America’s food and workers is not for sale and this lawsuit seeks to ensure this dangerous rule is set aside and these companies are held accountable.”

Andrew Lorenz, We R Food Safety! founder and columnist for The National Provisioner, wrote about the realities of new swine inspection rule. In the article, he wrote about the audits he conducted about the new system compared to the existing system and found that the modernized rules are, in fact, better for public health.

Source: UFCW